Hi, I’m Rebecca. I write books and I write here at This Joyful Mess to inspire everyone to find JOY in the everyday messes of life. Here you’ll find inspiration, educational resources, and so much more. Please explore and connect—I’d love to hear from you!
Who Doesn't Love a Plague? A book by Jim Murphy
Seriously, An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 was entirely fascinating. Like brain porn or something. I love medical weirdness and plagues and boils and gross stuff. So this book had me from the title.
A Book of Nine: We Are the Ship by Kadir Nelson
In We Are the Ship Nelson combines fabulous paintings with rich text full of voice for a truly interesting look at the Negro League of baseball. The paintings are gentle, respectful, full of love with absolutely amazing use of light.
All Books are Not Created Equal
I'm going through our curriculum's book lists to see what I can get at the library and what we ought to purchase.
Lenten Meditation - A Book by the Man with Two First Names
A book for those of us who seldom (if ever) experience a “summery” spirituality. Marty turns to the Psalms which are overwhelmingly wintery and seldom mention the life to come, something I’d never noticed before.
Not About Music
Dr. Rubin, an influential sociologist and psychotherapist, has collected stories of her experiences as a therapist and recorded them here. Both an instruction manual and a fascinating set of case studies, this book provides endless insight into the therapeutic process and human nature. Her storytelling is superb, her love...
How to Build a Mosque
The intro is sort of dry, but the melding of fiction and nonfiction with fascinating detail on construction held my interest to the end. Yet why was there such a need for bathing? (I know it’s ritual bathing, but the text doesn’t tell me this.) There’s a ton of info on engineering, but not much...
Collection of Poems, linked: Carver: A Life in Poems
Would it be admitting ignorance to say I don’t like poems I don’t understand? I mean, I sort of understand “The Perceiving Self,” but I mostly don’t. It makes me wonder...
On Homesick
The story of Fritz’s childhood in China. A memoir for children full of fun stories and written in an accessible fairy-tale tone. Rich detail, vivid storytelling, a likable protagonist. There is very little difference between...
You Mean Women Won Rights? News to Me.
Now here is a compelling and well-told story! Kamma never loses her narrative thread, she includes quotes and details, and she keeps the details to those that ground the story or move it forward. She, in short, finds a plot and...
Another Reason My Yard is Full of Holes: How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World
Second person, a how-to booklet on digging to the center of the earth and beyond. Fact meets fun. The fantasy element combined with scientific detail make this a favorite and true classic. But hey, my copy didn't come with a CD!
That aside...